A teenage schoolgirl was forced into sex with a man in his 50s after being promised money and gifts if she pretended to be his wife, a court heard.

A teenage schoolgirl was forced into sex with a man in his 50s after being promised money and gifts if she pretended to be his wife, a court heard.

Brian Austin, of Kingsley Close, Whitley Wood, is accused of attempted rape and indecency with a child five years ago.

A jury at Reading Crown Court watched a recorded police interview in which the woman told how she was duped into Austin’s bedroom.

The court heard how the 14-year-old girl was at Austin’s house, with her then boyfriend, on a Sunday evening in May 2007 while his wife was out playing bingo.

She said Austin, 59, appeared to have a telephone conversation with a man called Bob and then asked her if she wanted to make some money.

The victim said: “He said if I pretended to be his wife we could make this money and if we were realistic enough we could get a flat screen TV, MP3 player, a mobile phone and a DVD player and I thought okay yeah, wicked.”

He told her to return the following Sunday and he would give her £20 and a packet of cigarettes and they would go ahead with the scheme.

When she returned the next week Austin told her they would have to pretend to have sex in his bedroom and a friend of Bob’s would look through the window and, if it was convincing enough, she would get the money and gifts.

The woman said: “I just thought, okay if I only have to pretend I wasn’t too worried about it.”

However, she said she was too embarrassed to go ahead with it on that day. The following Sunday she returned as planned and Austin told her to go into the bedroom and to take her trousers off and lay on the bed.

The victim said Austin took off his false leg, which he had used since losing his leg in a motorbike accident, and stripped off. She said he then had sex with her and carried out other sex acts on her.

The woman said: “I didn't really think he was going to have sex with me. I didn’t do anything because he was such a big bloke I didn’t want to do anything to make the situation worse. I would rather him do that than hit me.

“I didn’t say anything to him, I was in so much shock I just froze.”

She said she now believes Austin had made up the initial phone call.

Austin, who is on conditional bail, denies one count of attempted rape and two counts of indecency with a child.